Churchill, Whitman, and Wootton should dominate the girls’ competition, just as they did at the Washington Metro Interscholastic and MCPS Division I championships. Walter Johnson and Churchill will battle for the boys’ title.

Churchill’s girls won both earlier contests, but the difference at those meets was Churchill’s substantial advantage in diving, led by freshman star Kali Becker, who has placed first in every championship appearance of her brief high school career.

However, at the Maryland championship meet, diving is exhibition only, with no points counting towards the competition for the team title, evening up the competition between Churchill, Whitman, and Wootton. Whitman was only one point behind Churchill at Metros, and finished nine points ahead of Churchill to win the West region championship meet last weekend. Wootton finished third, five points behind Churchill.

Walter Johnson’s boys were fourth at Metros, behind private school powerhouses Gonzaga, Georgetown Prep, and Good Counsel. As they have all season, the Wildcats will be challenged by Churchill’s boys, who finished 1.5 points and 10 points back at Metros and the Division I championship meets, respectively.

(photo by Bryan Flaherty)

If swimmers can replicate the impressive performances from the Metro championship, nearly every state record has a chance of being broken. Star swimmers from Whitman, Wootton, Walter Johnson, and Churchill enter the competition with season-best times already under the majority of the records, but nearly every one of those times were achieved at Metros, swimming rested, against the area’s elite.

Plus, with club championship meets approaching, club teams are focused on preparing swimmers for the long course championships in March, with several still hoping to reach Olympic Trials cuts, and not on breaking records at a meet in which they have never participated. Regardless, records will fall, even if not in the same spectacular fashion they did at Metros.

Charlotte Meyer‘s time from Metros in the girls’ 200 individual medley is a staggering 10 seconds under the state record. It will be hard for the Whitman junior to replicate that performance without Good Counsel senior Sarah Haase pushing her, but she should still be comfortably under the previous record of 2:08.82.

Meyer will also battle Kristina Li (Wootton) for the record in the girls’ 100 backstroke. Li got the better of Meyer at Metros, finishing in 54.85 to Meyer’s 55.55. The current record is 1:00.53.

Senior Ellen Anderson (Gaithersburg) will lead a field of Montgomery County swimmers in the girls’ 500 freestyle who have all gone under the current record of 5:08.06 at some point this year. Anderson’s season best is 4:52.02. She will also have a shot at the record in the 200 freestyle (1:52.69). Her season best is 1:51.23, but will have to get past Sherwood’s Anna Kolanowski (1:49.85) and Churchill’s Natalya Ares (1:51.98).

Ares has been under the record in the 100 butterfly, going 55.05 two weeks ago at Metros with an inspiring swim from the outside. The current record is 56.22.

Whitman’s team of Reia Tong, Sarah Kannan, Audrey Gould, and Meyer should also set new records in the girls’ 200 freestyle and 400 freestyle. The current records of 1:39.86 and 3:38.07 are well within reach for the Vikings’ stars. Whitman’s season best are 1:35.39 and 3:27.13.

Tong will be close to the record in the 50 and 100 freestyle events, as will Gould in the 100 breaststroke.

The fastest girls’ state record is the 200 medley at 1:48.36. Wootton’s girls’ 200 medley relay was 1:48.54 at Metros, but had Good Counsel’s speedy relay to chase down in the effort. The team of Li, Jessica Chen, Scarlett Sun, and Emily Zhang are all underclassmen and will have plenty of opportunities to eclipse this record in the years to come.

The boys’ side of the meet could have a similar story. Walter Johnson is aiming for more than just the team title. They also have a shot at collecting a number of records on the way, including all three relays records. But they face stiff competition in both 200 relays from the rest of the county elite.

Wootton and Walter Johnson’s boys’ 200 medley relays were separated by less than half a second at Metros, where they were more than four seconds under the current Maryland state record of 1:42.81. Blair was not too far behind Wootton and Walter Johnson in 1:39.85.

Churchill, Walter Johnson, Wooton, and Whitman will duke it out in the 200 freestyle relay. As with any relay, who wins will largely depend on where coaches decide to place their stars.

Walter Johnson has owned the 400 freestyle relay all year in MCPS. At Metros, the team of Barry Mangold, Garrett Powell, Ryan Whitescarver, and Jean-Marc Nugent finished in 3:08.73, which, if they could replicate that performance, would put them almost 15 seconds under the state record.

Senior Powell will be a big part of any relay record for Walter Johnson and is the favorite for two individual records as well.

Powell was an amazing 4:20.04 in the 500 freestyle at Metros, behind Jack Conger, who nearly broke the national high school record. Even if he is no where close to that time, he should go under the current record of 4:43.13. He will be pushed by a pair of Blair swimmers, Jack Foster (4:34.96) and Brian Tsau (4:36.87).

Powell will also compete in the 100 backstroke where he finished almost two full seconds under the state record at regionals last weekend.

Austin Cole (Churchill) and Mangold (Walter Johnson) will battle for the record in the 50 and 100 freestyle. Cole is the top seed in the 50 freestyle with a time of 21.34, nine-hundredths of a second ahead of Mangold, and .11 ahead of the current record. Mangold is highly favored in the 100 freestyle after an impressive 45.87 at Metros. The current record is 47.35.

Bethesda-Chevy Chase’s Graham Baird is the top seed in the boys’ 200 freestyle. His season best of 1:43.38 is well under the record of 1:45.89, but Wootton’s Kevin Fu (1:44.30), Churchill’s Joey Bieda (1:44.65), Clarksburg’s Joshua Kiehl (1:44.93), and Baird’s teammate Jamie Stevenson (1:45.19) all have a shot at stealing this one away from the sophomore. Baird is also the top seed in the boys’ 100 butterfly with a 52.13. The current record is 53.03.

[Updated] Blair’s Foster, Tyler Pham (Gaithersburg) and Harrison Gu (Churchill) will battle for the record in the 200 individual medley – currently 1:57.41, – with season best 1:54.02, 1:55.01, and 1:55.07, respectively.

In the final individual event, the 100 breaststroke, will most likely come down to who is ready to race that day, just as it has all year. Austin Dickey (Wootton), Fletcher Tollefson (Walter Johnson), and Gu all have a shot at the record and the individual championship title, making this an interesting race to keep an eye on.

Additional information on the 2012 MPSSAA State Championship can be found here.

Dani Schulkin and the Whitman girls are one of the favorites heading into Saturday's Montgomery County championships. (Bob Bloom)

Click here to view the psych sheet for the MCPS championships.

Last Saturday, Montgomery County swim teams hit the water for the first time in more than a week to compete for division titles while simultaneously shaking off the rust of their extended break. Now with a full week of pool time, Montgomery’s 25 teams convene at the Martin Luther King Swim Center Saturday for a county meet that should feature faster times and dramatic finishes.

A year ago, Churchill used a sweep at the county championships to springboard its girls to the Metros title. So far this winter the Whitman girls have handled the Bulldogs, both at their dual meet and last week at divisionals, meaning Churchill will be hard pressed to repeat the feat. The Bulldog boys defended their Division I title but the girls finished a distant second behind the Vikings, who have to be considered one of the favorites heading into Metros.

“I would love for both of them to repeat,” Churchill Coach Rodney Van Tassell said. “I’m hoping that our boys and girls will fight hard to keep another team from taking those titles from us, but we have to be better. ”

The Vikings enter the weekend brimming with confidence and high aspirations. Led by Dani Schulkin, Victoria Kuhn, Reia Tong and Charlotte Meyer — who each won individual and relay events at the Division I meet — Whitman is loaded with depth. Schulkin, Kuhn, Tong and Lauren Poore set a MCPS record in the 200 medley relay (1:48.29) and will look to give the Vikings another fast start Saturday.

“I expect our girls to take this meet and own it,” Whitman Coach Geoff Schaefer said. “I’m not sure that we will win many events, but we will finish high enough to bring home the trophy.”

To reach their goal, the Vikings will have to fend off a talented Sherwood team. Led by Emily Ryczek — a double-winner at the Division II meet — the Warriors outscored second-place Northwood by more than 100 points (449-342) and should not be taken lightly against the county’s top teams. Behind Eric Conrad, the defending county champion in the 100 fly and 100 back, and Mike Anderson, who took the 200 free title a year ago, the Sherwood boys will also be in the mix.

“We had everyone swimming great last weekend,” Sherwood Coach Brendan Lees said. “Some of our swims were a little complacent but I think that’s going to change now that the competition is a little tougher. I think we’ll see some faster times since everyone had a full week of practice.”

On the boys’ side, the defending 200 IM champion Chris Verboncoeur spearheads the Bulldogs’ hopes to repeat. He’ll need another strong effort for Churchill to maintain its dominance in the 200 medley relay. Wootton and Walter Johnson — led by Andrew Tollefson in the 200 IM and 100 breast — will look to make up ground following the full week in the water.

“With the snow, it did mess up the training some, so it will be interesting to see where some of the swimmers are,” Walter Johnson Coach Jamie Grimes said.

Kaiser, Anderson take 500 free

Richard Montgomery junior Clemens Kaiser and Gaithersburg‘s Ellen Anderson gave their teams some early points with victories in Friday’s 500 free races. Kaiser, who has now posted nine first place finishes in his 11 individual races this season has dropped nearly five seconds off his divisional time, besting Sherwood’s Mike Anderson — the defending county champion — and earning All-America consideration with a 4:37.83.

Anderson also swam her fastest race of the season, beating Churchill’s Maria Watkins by more than three seconds with a time of 5:00.53. She swept the 500 and 200 free at the Division III meet.

See the full results from the two 500 races here.

Churchill defended its Division I title with a convincing victory over Wootton and the rest of the field at Saturday's divisional meet.

Division I

Complete meet results

After more than a week out of the pool, the Whitman girls once again showed why they could be the top challenger to Good Counsel’s hopes of reclaiming the Metros title, crushing the competition at the Montgomery County Division I meet Saturday at the Montgomery Aquatic Center.

Led by double winner Dani Schulkin (100 fly, 100 back) and a record-setting performance by their 200 medley relay team of Schulkin, Victoria Kuhn, Reia Tong and Lauren Poore, the Vikings ran away from last year’s Metros champions Churchill to win the meet with a team score of 480.50. The Bulldogs finished second (372) followed by Walter Johnson (341.50), Wootton (313), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (246) and Richard Montgomery (183).

On the boys’ side, the Bulldogs defended their crown with a team score of 423.50. Wootton had a strong showing in finishing second (396) and was followed by Walter Johnson (333.50), Whitman (310), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (258.50) and Richard Montgomery (242.50).

The defending Metros champion in the 100 fly, Schulkin (56.58) narrowly edged Walter Johnson’s Elizabeth Pepper (56.62) in her best event and later was a surprise first-place finisher in the 100 backstroke (59.75) with the only sub-one minute time in the event. Schulkin’s time in the fly was one hundredth of a second off the automatic All America cut.

The Vikings, who defeated Churchill in an early season dual meet, took six more events including all three relays. Whitman set the tone for the day the first girls’ event as Kuhn, Tong, Schulkin and Poore reset their own Montgomery County Public School record in the 200 medley relay with an automatic All America time of 1:48.29 — besting second place Wootton by seven seconds.

“Today, the only thing that could stop our girls’ team was snow and the county shoveled enough of it to get the meet started,” Whitman Coach Geoff Schaefer said.

Whitman continued its hot start in the 200 IM as freshman Charlotte Meyer took first (2:10.37) followed by teammate Audrey Gould (2:13.14) while Lauren Levy finished fourth (2:15.80) on a day when the Vikings’ depth was too much to overcome. They again took three of the first four spots in the 50 free as Kuhn finished first (24.33) and Tong (25.11) and Katie Mahaffie (25.51) rounded out the top four. Churchill’s Natalya Ares (24.47) broke up the sweep with a second-place finish.

Tong continued her strong showing with a first place finish in the 100 free (54.14) and was the anchor on the Vikings’ winning 400 free relay team (3:36.99) that also included Kuhn, Meyer and Schulkin. Poore, who took second in the 100 free (54.18), swam the first leg for the first place 200 free relay team along with Gould and Katie and Jenna Mahaffie.

“This was one of the goals that was set for the year,” Schaefer said. “Winning the division was the first step. Next week, it will continue. I view this meet as the warm up for county championships.”

Churchill’s Eugenia Chen (1:08.05) edged Gould (1:08.14) in the 100 breast to break up the Vikings’ run while teammate Maria Watkins dominated the field in the 500 free. The only other non-Whitman winner was Pepper, who claimed first in the 200 free (1:51.98) by nearly six seconds over Poore.

Reia Tong and the Whitman girls dominated the Division I meet and now have their sights set on counties. (Bob Bloom)

Senior Chris Verboncoeur led the way for the Bulldog boys, with victories in the 50 free (22.41) and 100 fly (52.94). He teamed with Brenton Reinhardt, Collin Stanhope and Colin Asbury to take first in the 200 free relay (1:40.76) and edge Wootton’s foursome of Thomas Finn, Raymond Zhou, Matt Gibson and Michael Fu. Despite only winning those three events, like the Whitman girls, Churchill used its tremendous depth to clean up points with four second place finishes and four third place finishes.

“The meet certainly was closer than I envisioned but we pulled through with a victory,” Churchill Coach Rodney Van Tassell said. “Chris was exceptional in winning two individual events as well as assisting in a first and second place relay finish.

“We are looking forward to improving at counties next week.”

Whitman’s Serge Gould was a double winner, taking the 200 IM (1:54.73) and 100 breast (1:00.91). Other individual event winners included Finn in the 200 free (1:47.32), Gibson in the 100 back (55.54), BCC’s Michael Center in the 100 free (48.19) and Richard Montgomery junior Clemens Kaiser in the 500 free (4:43.38).

Walter Johnson’s Kevin Spak, Andrew Tollefson, Christopher Root and Greg Karel edged Churchill in the 200 free relay (1:30.53) and Wootton (Finn, Gibson, Fu and Eric Woodard) finished on a high note with first place in the 400 free relay (3:18.67).

In the one meter diving, Wootton’s Jordan Lesser (269.400) narrowly beat out Churchill’s Timothy Faerber (268.750), and on the girls’ side, Annie Kastler of Walter Johnson (300.050) took home first place.

Division II

Complete meet results

Sherwood continued its run of dominance this season with an impressive victory in the girls’ portion of Saturday’s Division II meet at the Martin Luther King Swim Center, but it was Blair‘s boys who spoiled the Warriors’ hopes for a sweep with a win in a closely contested meet.

Despite not winning a single event, the Blazer boys had just enough depth to edge out Sherwood, 399.5-387. Northwest (359) rounded out a very tight top three and was followed by Poolesville (288), Blake (276) and Quince Orchard (255.5).

Eric Conrad was a double winner for Sherwood, taking first in the 200 IM (1:57.04) and 100 fly (52.25) and senior Michael Anderson swept the 200 (1:48.18) and 500 free (4:57.87) as the Warriors won six events including the 200 medley and 400 free relays.

Jeffrey Lin took second behind Conrad in the 200 IM and third in the 100 fly and Eric Ruggieri finished second in the 100 breast (1:01.19) behind Sherwood’s Matt Lee (1:00.27). The Blazers finished second in all three relays to round out a balanced performance.

Blake junior Spencer Sterling won the 100 back (55.95) and 50 free (22.94) and Quince Orchard’s Kevin Hauri took first in the 100 free (49.19).

On the girls’ side, Sherwood (449) won comfortably behind Emily Ryczek‘s victories in the 50 (24.63) and 100 free (53.72). Northwest (342) finished a distant second followed closely by Poolesville (340). Blair (329), Quince Orchard (278) and Blake (226) rounded out the meet.

Poolesville senior Cara Chuang, one of the top backstrokers in the area, won the 100 fly (58.59) and 200 free (1:57.19) and swam the first leg for victorious teams in the 200 medley (1:52.62) and 400 free (3:47.32) relays. Diana Hanson, Mary Gillespie and Cameron Mackail joined Chuang on in the medley relay and Cynthia Jih teamed with Chuang, Mackail and Hanson in the 400 free.

Other individual winners included Quince Orchard’s Kelsey Liu in the 200 IM (2:10.86) and 100 breast (1:08.38) and Sherwood’s Katie Relihan in the 500 free (5:23.85) and Megan Conrad in the 100 back (1:01.49).

Poolesville dominated the diving portion of the meet with Alex Contreras posting a 204.550 for the girls and senior Sam Weber (170.650) edging teammate Zachary Greenwald (163.400) for the boys.

Division III

Complete meet results

In Division III, Damascus and Magruder were the top two teams on both sides with the Swarmin’ Hornets winning the boys’ competition and the Colonels (482) beating out Damascus (445) in the girls.

Magruder dominated the relays, winning five of the six events including all three on the girls side. Lauren Gil, who helped the 200 medley and 200 free relay teams to first place finishes, was a double winner, taking the 200 IM (2:19.40) and the 100 breast (1:13.16).

Other double winners included Gaithersburg‘s Ellen Anderson who swept the 200 (1:55.00) and 500 free (5:06.51), and her teammate, Tyler Pham, who won the 100 fly (55.75) and 100 back (55.75). The Trojan girls finished second and the boys finished third.

Division IV

Complete meet results

In Division IV, Clarksburg narrowly edged out Springbrook (359.5) and Einstein (323) on the boys’ side and the Einstein girls rolled past the field with 448 points for a convincing victory at the Olney Swim Center.

Northwood‘s Chelsea Vanderweele was a double winner, taking the 200 (2:04.43) and 100 free (57.75) and Seneca Valley‘s Jamieson Knopf also swept his two individual events, coming out on top in the 200 free (1:49.77) and 100 fly (55.32).

Other individual girls’ winners included Kelly Carroll of Paint Branch in the 200 IM (2:28.50), Northwood’s Liana Ventimiglia in the 50 free (27.06), Springbrook’s Georgia Howard in the 100 fly (1:11.37), Einstein’s Carol Anderson in the 500 free (5:56.07) and teammate Stephanie Pratt in the 100 back (1:09.21) and Linda Le of Clarksburg in the 100 breast (1:15.53). Einstein took both the medley and 400 free relays to wrap up their victory while Northwood won the 200 free relay.

Clarksburg’s Seung Lee (50 free, 24.24), Joshua Kiehl (500 free, 5:02.66) and Andrew Qian (100 breast, 1:05.69) all won individual events on the boys’ side while Northwood’s Austin Moore and Warren Jackson took first in the 200 IM and 100 back respectively. Gregory Ridgway of Springbrook finished first in the 100 free (52.81).

In diving, Kyle Butts of Paint Branch (285.200) and Cassidy Pickles of Clarksburg (173.650) were victorious.

Richard Montgomery junior Clemens Kaiser -- an exchange student from Pinneberg, Germany -- is making waves for the Rockets. (Brenda Dunham, Eye on the Ball Photography)

When Clemens Kaiser arrived in Rockville in August from his home in Pinneberg, Germany, the 17-year-old had one goal in mind — to set as many records in the pool as possible before he returned home at the end of the school year.

So far, so good as Richard Montgomery‘s prized import has shattered the top times in program history while transforming the Rockets into a possible dark horse at the Montgomery County and Metros championships next month.

Kaiser’s journey to the United States began in 2008 when his German club team traveled from Pinneberg to its sister city of Rockville to train for two weeks. But Kaiser enjoyed his brief stay and the hospitality of his host family so much that he found a way to return the following year as a foreign exchange student.

“I had already been thinking about doing some form of exchange and then my host family asked if I’d like to come back to Rockville,” Kaiser said. “Since I already had the family situation set up, everything happened pretty quickly and it’s worked out really well.

“I already knew some of the swimmers on the team, so it was not like being pushed into cold water when you come to a completely new place, and I liked that.”

On a team loaded with freshmen and lacking in seniors, Kaiser has made an instant impact both in the pool and as a leader on the deck. His races alone fire up the team, but his talent and experience have enabled him to aid in coaching the team’s younger, non-club swimmers.

“I got an e-mail from his host family at the end of last school year letting me know they were going to have a foreign exchange student this year, but I had no idea he would make this kind of an impact on the team,” Richard Montgomery Coach Aryn Wheeler said. “He took a leadership role from the start, helping younger swimmers out by critiquing their strokes and helping with starts and turns. The kids really look up to him and they always get fired up watching him in the water.

“We will definitely miss him next year when he’s gone.”

Kaiser has already set four school records including the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle. (Brenda Dunham, Eye on the Ball Photography)

After Saturday’s loss to Churchill, the Richard Montgomery boys fell to 0-3 in their first season of Division 1 competition. But the team has seen noticeable improvement and Kaiser continues to make waves at the top of the leader board. He won five of his six individual events in the three dual meets and helped the Rockets to victories in the 200 medley and 400 free relays. Kaiser has already set school records in the 100 (49.0), 200 (1:45.56) and 500 (4:42.50) free and the 200 IM (1:57.44) and against Churchill, he was a triple-winner, taking the 200 free, 100 back — an event Wheeler did not even know he could swim — and the 200 medley relay.

Records aside, Kaiser — who also swims with the Rockville-Montgomery Swim Club — has most enjoyed the experience of swimming with a team. His pool time has nearly doubled with nine practices a week compared to five with his German club, and while the competition can be intense at the club level back home, there are no high school swim teams and the atmosphere at meets is noticeably less spirited.

“It’s been pretty cool to experience this completely new system with high school teams,” Kaiser said. “High school sports have a lot of spirit and your teammates are always cheering you on. That’s totally different in the clubs in Germany because they’re more focused on their own times. Here every single person is standing and cheering for you, and that’s a good feeling to have when you’re swimming.”

With counties and Metros fast approaching, Kaiser has his sights set on leading the Rockets to a higher finish than last year in the former and qualifying for the A finals at the latter. And from what he has been told by teammates, the experience of the Metros meet is one he won’t soon forget.

“They told me it’s like a completely different meet,” Kaiser said. “There’s so much cheering and it’s super loud and everyone gets fired up and drops time. We want to set some more school records there and I’m really looking forward to it.”

Short term loan: Churchill also enjoyed a boost from a German exchange student, but he will not be around for the end of season meets. Tim Buettner flew home Monday after spending a semester with the Bulldogs in which he helped the Churchill boys maintain their position atop Division 1.

Whitman freshman Charlotte Meyer helped the Vikings set a new MCPS record in the 200 butterfly relay at Saturday's relay carnival. (Drew Meyer)

Montgomery County Division I swim teams returned to the pool Saturday for their first competitive action of the new year — the relay carnival at Martin Luther King Swim Center. And while the meet does not factor into team standings, the razor-thin margin that separated the top two teams definitely increased the anticipation for the upcoming county and Metros meets.

In a meet that featured multiple record-breaking relays and came down to the final race, defending girls Metros champion Churchill slipped past Whitman, 68-65. Wootton (46) finished in third followed by Walter Johnson (45), Bethesda-Chevy Chase (32) and Richard Montgomery (30).

In a Dec. 12 dual meet, Whitman’s girls pulled the upset against the Bulldogs, earning a 94-77 win and showcasing their potential to again challenge for the Metros title. Churchill turned the tables with a lop-sided victory on the boys’ end to win the meet. Saturday was similar, with the Vikings girls running away with their relays — winning seven of the 13 events — and the Bulldog boys doing just enough to pull out the victory. Churchill edged Walter Johnson in the final event to seal the victory while breaking the Montgomery County Public Schools record in the 400 mixed freestyle relay.

“I actually was surprised that we won,” Churchill Coach Rodney Van Tassell said. “I thought after our loss to Whitman that we might get beat at the relay carnival but our kids showed a ton of spirit and pulled out the win. We had a lot of girls step up and swim very fast and that made the difference.”

The Whitman girls set the tone early, winning many of their events going away and setting multiple school records. In the 200 butterfly, Lauren Poore, Audrey Gould, Dani Schulkin and Charlotte Meyer set a new MCPS record with a 1:47.69. The old mark was 1:48.41.

Video: Whitman girls break MCPS 200 fly relay record (Drew Meyer)

“When we won a race, there was nobody near us,” Whitman Coach Geoff Schaefer said. “I wasn’t expecting that but I was very pleased to see my girls swim that well.”

Gould, Meyer, Reia Tong and Lauren Levy beat out Churchill’s duo of seniors Cathy and Karen Chen to take first in the 200 breaststroke relay with a school-record time of 2:11.06 and the Vikings narrowly missed breaking three more MCPS records in mixed relay events. Schulkin, Victoria Kuhn, Serge Gould and Patrick Scordato took first in the 200 mixed medley with a time of 1:43.99 – just off the county record time of 1:43.15. In the 200 mixed backstroke, Poore, Kuhn, Serge Gould and Adam Wise (1:44.32) fell just short of the record 1:43.91 and in the 200 mixed fly, Poore, Scordato, Schulkin and Serge Gould missed the record by three hundredths of a second.

Video: Whitman girls break school record in 200 breastroke relay (Drew Meyer)

Serge Gould’s 23.7 split in the backstroke was one of several pleasant surprises for Schaefer’s Vikings on the day.

“He really shocked me,” Schaefer said. “He really stepped it up and it was his split that put that record in reach.”

The Bulldog boys made waves of their own as Tim Buettner, Brian Xiao, Brent Reinhardt and Austin Cole set a new record in the 200 backstroke relay with a time of 1:41.45. Buettner joined Natalya Ares, Odin Soevik, Colin Asbury, Michelle Illig, Shannon Ridge, Alicia Watkins and Chris Verboncoeur on the record-breaking mixed free relay team (3:11.40).

“The boys backstroke was a total surprise for me,” Van Tassell said. “I put together a good lineup but I never thought they would go that fast. Austin is a freshman and split 24.1 on the end of the relay — way faster than I thought he could go.”

The tight finish between two teams whose girls finished first and third at Metros last season, should only intensify the competition next month at the Montgomery County Division I meet and Metros.

“If you hype an event up like this, the girls really get into it,” Schaefer said. “I want them to take the confidence from their performances and use it to fire us up for the rest of the season. Coming in second should fuel the fire for Metros.”